In Loco Fraternis
by LeonaWriter
Summary: In a world where Ryou went out in that car with his mother, his younger sister is given the Ring. Some things change just as others don't when the still male Spirit of the Ring has to cope with a female host.


In Loco Fraternis

Prologue. Chapter One

...

He slowly started to wake as his host - new host? Something had happened, and this mind didn't feel the same as before - slept. At least it was a deep sleep, so with any luck, he'd be able to rediscover more things without the host stirring and disrupting everything. The last time that had happened, he'd had to implant the suggestion that his host had merely been sleepwalking. He didn't particularly want to repeat the situation.

Except when he tried to sit up, something felt off. And not just the mind. The body itself - the balance was off, the feel of everything was different.

He looked around through the body's borrowed eyes. The room was different. Pale blues had been replaced by pale pinks, even though there were still plenty of the games and toys that he'd been familiar with from the other room.

_Dresses _lined the wardrobe, and one hung off a nearby chair.

He felt his eyes grow wide in uncomprehending disbelief; this simply could not be happening. There was no way that he could be stuck with a female - he'd had his host! And the boy had definitely been male!

There was no way that this should have been able to happen. None at all.

But this was… definitely… a female body. If a young one. The same age as the boy had been. And come to think of it, he remembered fragments from the boy's memories that had leaked across already suggesting a sister. This must be her.

_But then, why…?_

The dress hanging off the back of the chair was pure, unadulterated black.

His mind supplied the _screeching _of tyres, and the _screams _of the two people in the car, the _horror _that his then-host had felt, the _rush _of colour and _darkness _and not-feeling and _blood_, _blood_, so much _blood _again and he could _remember _it now.

Oh. So that was why.

...

It was taking a while, admittedly, to get used to the new body. He could hardly be faulted; even in three thousand long years locked up in blood gold, he had still thought of himself as male. In his mind, he felt that he should be able to walk in a certain way, talk properly, not have his attempts at intimidation shot down.

He doubted that he would ever truly get used to the idea. In fact, he was pretty sure he didn't want to. It was bad enough quite literally being stuck inside a girl's body, without the threat of gradually starting to think like one as well.

At least, though, he could safely say with certainty that the shadow powers of the Millennium Ring hadn't been too adversely affected by the change in gender and death of his previous host. He had already tested them out on one unsuspecting… 'bully', the girl's mind supplied him.

Just because he didn't have to like the situation did not, by any stretch, mean that he would put up with someone insulting his host like that.

…She had fallen asleep again. And this time, the 'father' was out. So, as the saying went, he would 'play'.

Carefully, he woke up the body. With a slight bit more confidence than the first time he'd tried, got out of the bed and he stood up, not grabbing on to anything to keep his balance. One minor achievement accomplished. Even if it had been done before.

Footsteps quiet from socks on wooden flooring, he took the opportunity to wander around the house. Residual memories from his first host and gradually leaking ones from the new one aided him, but he always preferred to know the lay of the land himself. It helped, in case perspectives skewed his viewpoint at a critical moment.

Once in the corridor, he instantly took note of the door he'd come out of. It was normal, and and the only indication of whose it was apart from the large amount of pink inside was the name plate on the door, which read quite clearly, 'AMANE'.

Looking away, it didn't take long to notice that right beside her room was a similar door, that instead said 'RYOU'. The name plate hadn't been touched. He turned the handle, opened the door, and stuck his head inside the room.

It was painted a light blue. As though the parents had to be reminded which of their children was in either room. Posters covered the walls, as did childish drawings and toys. Boys' clothes were still scattered around the room, untouched from where they'd been left before the boy had left for the car.

He distinctly remembered where specific things should have gone, and where things should be, perhaps with a clarity that should worry him. His current host was not nearly so prone to leaking her mind any which way at him.

He closed the door. It wouldn't do to have someone accuse his host of disturbing something in there. It would mean less freedom for him, even more than her.

The next room was an adult's, and it was empty. The double bed further indicated that the owner was the now-widowed father. Apart from noting a couple of interesting points - photographs, with the scenery familiar and yet not; Egypt? Or was that simply something else that had leaked in yet again? - he left. There wasn't anything further of interest to him there.

A few minutes later found him exploring the fascinations of the kitchen and living room, memorising the locations of the sharp, pointy knives, the heavy objects and anything that could be manipulated into being the tool of a game of darkness.

It was while he was doing this that he found that other door. The one that they apparently didn't want him to find.

It opened easily enough, though - although what he saw inside even at first glance was enough to make his eyes shine with anticipation.

So this was a Monster World game board, then…!

...

AN: Both of these segments were originally posted to Tumblr, written onsite. But then I figured - Tumblr guys are getting this, so why shouldn't the people here get it as well? The next bits may be short like this, or may get longer. Depending on how I write it and what I write it into.


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